Hydrogeological Model of the Forefield Drainage System of Werenskioldbreen, Svalbard
The significant recession of Arctic glaciers caused by climate warming is expanding their proglacial zones. Thus, their importance for the hydrology of glacierised basins is growing. In contrast to the surface waters in such areas, the role of groundwater in the hydrological balance of Svalbard catc...
Published in: | Water |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
2022
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3390/w14091514 |
id |
ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2073-4441/14/9/1514/ |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2073-4441/14/9/1514/ 2023-08-20T04:04:46+02:00 Hydrogeological Model of the Forefield Drainage System of Werenskioldbreen, Svalbard Katarzyna Stachniak Sławomir Sitek Dariusz Ignatiuk Jacek Jania agris 2022-05-09 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/w14091514 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Hydrology https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w14091514 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Water; Volume 14; Issue 9; Pages: 1514 glacierised basin modelling cold-region hydrogeology groundwater balance hydraulic conductivity Text 2022 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/w14091514 2023-08-01T04:59:40Z The significant recession of Arctic glaciers caused by climate warming is expanding their proglacial zones. Thus, their importance for the hydrology of glacierised basins is growing. In contrast to the surface waters in such areas, the role of groundwater in the hydrological balance of Svalbard catchments is poorly known. This paper presents the hydrogeological conditions and groundwater flow within the permafrost active layer in the forefield of the Werenskioldbreen glacier basin (44.1 km2), 61% of which is glacierised. Based on field studies of groundwater in the 2017 ablation season and laboratory analyses of the hydrogeological properties of proglacial sediments, a three-dimensional groundwater flow model (FEFLOW) for part of the glacier forefield (4.8 km2) was developed. The main results show the components and characteristics of the groundwater balance and indicate the preferential groundwater flow paths. The volume of water retained in the sediments of the marginal zone is 1.0073 mln m3. The maximum potential free pore space that could be filled by water is 2.0689 mln m3. The calculated groundwater discharge for average conditions is 6076.9 m3 d−1, which is about 2% of the total seasonal catchment runoff from the main glacial river. The results of the spatial analysis for the groundwater depth and the groundwater flow directions are also presented. There need to be further detailed studies of hydrogeological processes in glacial basins in Svalbard in order to develop existing knowledge. Text Arctic glacier permafrost Svalbard MDPI Open Access Publishing Arctic Svalbard Werenskioldbreen ENVELOPE(15.336,15.336,77.077,77.077) Water 14 9 1514 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
glacierised basin modelling cold-region hydrogeology groundwater balance hydraulic conductivity |
spellingShingle |
glacierised basin modelling cold-region hydrogeology groundwater balance hydraulic conductivity Katarzyna Stachniak Sławomir Sitek Dariusz Ignatiuk Jacek Jania Hydrogeological Model of the Forefield Drainage System of Werenskioldbreen, Svalbard |
topic_facet |
glacierised basin modelling cold-region hydrogeology groundwater balance hydraulic conductivity |
description |
The significant recession of Arctic glaciers caused by climate warming is expanding their proglacial zones. Thus, their importance for the hydrology of glacierised basins is growing. In contrast to the surface waters in such areas, the role of groundwater in the hydrological balance of Svalbard catchments is poorly known. This paper presents the hydrogeological conditions and groundwater flow within the permafrost active layer in the forefield of the Werenskioldbreen glacier basin (44.1 km2), 61% of which is glacierised. Based on field studies of groundwater in the 2017 ablation season and laboratory analyses of the hydrogeological properties of proglacial sediments, a three-dimensional groundwater flow model (FEFLOW) for part of the glacier forefield (4.8 km2) was developed. The main results show the components and characteristics of the groundwater balance and indicate the preferential groundwater flow paths. The volume of water retained in the sediments of the marginal zone is 1.0073 mln m3. The maximum potential free pore space that could be filled by water is 2.0689 mln m3. The calculated groundwater discharge for average conditions is 6076.9 m3 d−1, which is about 2% of the total seasonal catchment runoff from the main glacial river. The results of the spatial analysis for the groundwater depth and the groundwater flow directions are also presented. There need to be further detailed studies of hydrogeological processes in glacial basins in Svalbard in order to develop existing knowledge. |
format |
Text |
author |
Katarzyna Stachniak Sławomir Sitek Dariusz Ignatiuk Jacek Jania |
author_facet |
Katarzyna Stachniak Sławomir Sitek Dariusz Ignatiuk Jacek Jania |
author_sort |
Katarzyna Stachniak |
title |
Hydrogeological Model of the Forefield Drainage System of Werenskioldbreen, Svalbard |
title_short |
Hydrogeological Model of the Forefield Drainage System of Werenskioldbreen, Svalbard |
title_full |
Hydrogeological Model of the Forefield Drainage System of Werenskioldbreen, Svalbard |
title_fullStr |
Hydrogeological Model of the Forefield Drainage System of Werenskioldbreen, Svalbard |
title_full_unstemmed |
Hydrogeological Model of the Forefield Drainage System of Werenskioldbreen, Svalbard |
title_sort |
hydrogeological model of the forefield drainage system of werenskioldbreen, svalbard |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/w14091514 |
op_coverage |
agris |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(15.336,15.336,77.077,77.077) |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard Werenskioldbreen |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard Werenskioldbreen |
genre |
Arctic glacier permafrost Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Arctic glacier permafrost Svalbard |
op_source |
Water; Volume 14; Issue 9; Pages: 1514 |
op_relation |
Hydrology https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w14091514 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/w14091514 |
container_title |
Water |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
1514 |
_version_ |
1774715155142148096 |